


just one hug

by Internal_Nightmare



Series: more than a day together [2]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Galra Keith, M/M, Red lion is boo, have fun, kinda angsty, like me lol i'm trash, smolish keith, tho that's not the main focus its still there
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-11
Updated: 2017-04-11
Packaged: 2018-10-17 20:10:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,777
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10601343
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Internal_Nightmare/pseuds/Internal_Nightmare
Summary: But now, as he turned his head, eyes squeezed shut, Keith realized that he may want a bit more than just one.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Though this isn't directly related to the fic before this (not at all really) I still recommend reading it b/c it has my headcannon for Keith's mums jacket thing.
> 
> So go read that.
> 
> But even though they share the same headcannon justonehug is set in a different universe from nothisjacket 
> 
> Anyways- read onwards!

It started small, as most things do, and snowballed into something uncontrollable.

It had happened gradually, then all at once. The purple had started out as bursts- turning skin on his hands and up his arms the Galran  colour- easily manageable by covering them with bandage.

But then it got out of hand- too much for bandages to cover, as it spread up to his shoulder and down his chest, covering his stomach. And then, (Keith, regretfully, knew this was inevitable.) the purple spread to his neck.

The paladin armour covered most of it, but around the top of the black materiel hugging his neck, purple blotches of skin creeped upwards. Not enough to be noticed though, which Keith thought was both relieving and terrifying, because he was _changing_ , and soon he wouldn't be able to hide it from anyone.

And Keith wished, by gods did he _wish_ , he wished on every star that he saw and it _hurt_ , because no matter how hard he wished it wouldn't change the fact that finding out he had Galran blood almost broke the family he swore he wouldn't loose, and, now, _looking_ like a Galra was a lot different than just being related to one.

This would ruin everything.

Red still loved him though, so he had her, even if things fell apart, her purrs calming him. Or would he? Would Allura decide on finding a new paladin to replace him? Would the others agree?

After all, who wants an untrustworthy Galra piloting a reckless, instinct driven lion?

But as he said, it was only a matter of time before it spread up his neck and onto his face and hair- would his ears change along with it?

It was only a matter of time before it spread so far up his neck, that his paladin armour couldn't hide it anymore. Only a matter of time before his eyes would turn yellow and he'd look like the monsters they fight to protect people from.

But 'only a matter of time' was never really that specific, was it?

Keith found this out as he padded into the bathroom one morning, all of the lights off because his eye stung like a _bitch_. His ears were popped and his nose was plugged and then when he looked in the mirror his eyes stung from more than just the light.

Don't freak out, don't freak out, _don't freak out_.

He was freaking out.

 

Keith bit the inside of his cheek, which was, apparently, a bad idea, when the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth and he had to spit it out in the sink in front of him. Keith had sharp teeth. Sharp teeth, that were so, undeniably, Galra.

It pulled a shudder through his body.

Where was his jacket? _Where was his jacket_? Oh, _god_ \- Keith choked, eyes watering. _Yellow_ eyes watering.

His ears, _Galran_ ears, rang as he ran back out into the bedroom, his hands curling around the jacket on the wall and pulling it on without a second thought.

But there was a second thought.

He was ruining the only memory he didn't have of his mother. The only memory he didn't have of his happy family. He couldn't wear this jacket. He couldn't ruin all he had left. _He couldn't ruin this jacket_.

Hastily, Keith tugged it from his arms, threw it halfway across the room, zippers clacked against metal, and clawed hands ran through his scalp, over, and over, and over, and _over_ -

He had to get out.

Stumbling backwards, Keith's arms fumbled out behind him, and the door opened with a hiss as he dropped backwards into the hallway. His head hit the metal floor, going at miles a minute and slow as molasses at the same time, trudging through thoughts after thoughts after thoughts because what was going to happen now? What happened to the slow pace it was going at before? What happened? What _happened_?

Keith's chest heaved, and he pulled himself up, world spinning before resting into focus. He realized he couldn't quite go to breakfast just yet, oh god no, and when he didn't, someone would come to wake him up.

But he was already awake- so he had an advantage. But he never missed breakfast either, so really he was at a disadvantage of seeming suspicious right off the bat.

Keith shrugged, mentally though, because all of a sudden his limbs felt like a hundred pound jelly, heavy but ready to drop.

He went to Red lion, in the end. Cooped himself up in the cockpit, curled up in the pilots seat with her gentle purrs and pulse of comforting ideas into his mind, almost like wrapping him up in a blanket. Almost like wrapping him up in a jacket. Almost like wrapping him up in a _hug_.

Keith wanted a hug.

He's never admitted that before- mostly because he was never really in need of one - but right now, as he curls up tighter, drops his head, and closes his eyes to see what Red sees, he tried to imagine what it would be like when he was a baby.

When his mothers arms were wrapped around him, and he was hugged to her chest. He tried to imagine, or maybe remember, what it was like to be surrounding by her warmth, her smell, with her heartbeat right beside his. As Keith huffed, and swallowed a quiet sob, he realized he wanted a hug. He had always wanted a hug. Not just that-

He wanted a hug from his mother. Just one. Just one lasting hug, that he'd be able to remember this time, as he puts on the jacket and imagines it's his mothers arms around him. Just one hug. That's all Keith wants. Just one hug from his mother.

And the next sorrowful noise was replaced with a gasp of air as he saw, through Red's eyes, the hangar door slide open. As if they could see him like he could see them, Keith froze, movement halting and all of the noise he had been making before muffled and bottled up.

His ears flicked, because even from the cockpit he could hear the hiss and slide of the doors, and Keith frowned, reminded again of his appearance because of it.

In walked in Lance, one hand in his pocket and the other cupped around his mouth as he called out. "Keith?" He yelled, and Keith winced, ears turning down, because if he was going to yell why was his hand there? Keith heard him just fine.

_But that's because your Galra_. A passing thought that wasn't so passing, that caused him to curl tighter into himself as if trying to disappear into the chair.

Red purred, a mental nuzzle, and Keith let out a puff of air and a strained half-smile, wanting to thank her out loud, but too afraid that Lance would hear him.

"Keeeith? Buddy?" Lance was walking towards red lion. Keith's gaze flickered in and out of sink with Red's as his heart picked up. Did the other Paladins know he was here? _Fuck_. "You in here?" Okay- okay they didn't know. That's good.

Red purred contently when he began to calm. But she didn't mentally.

She purred _out loud_.

Keith's fists clenched and he uncurled from his position on the chair, leaving Red's eyes in time to see Lance start walking closer to her with another call.

What could he do? Think, think, think, think, _think_. He couldn't just up and take his lion for a fly- that'd mean opening hangar, which meant the sucking of space. And since Lance was in here- he couldn't exactly do that.

Suddenly, the cockpit was moving, and Keith jumped up from his chair, because Red was lowering her head to the ground.

Keith swears, _swears_ , if she lets Lance up, it will _not_ in any way, shape or form, help him—

The cockpit doors slide open, and there Lance is in the doorway, Keith's name started and dropped from his tongue as his eyes land on, none other than, Keith himself, caught in the act.

_Ha_. You could say he was caught, Red handed.

"Uh," Lance muttered, because, yes, this is why Keith hid, and no, he will not leave this cockpit. "Keith?"

Ears downturned, Keith fumbled with his words- he seemed to be doing a lot of that this morning. "I- Lance, _please_ , don't—" _—don't leave. Don't leave without saying anything els_ e.

Though Keith didn't say that. How could he? Instead he settled on a thick swallow, and a reply as his arms wrap around himself. "Just... Don't."

Lance seemed stumped, his arms falling to his sides, as silence stretched on around them. Red had gone completely silent, and it made Keith's eyes water and stomach churn nervously. How could she leave him to face the others alone?

Eventually, after many minutes, Lance opened his arms. Slowly, and though from how his arms bent in it would've been a small hug, it made Keith want to cry. "You, uh, you want a hug..?"

Yes. _Yes_ , he wanted a hug. He wanted arms to wrap around him so he could fall back asleep and not feel like crying like a wuss. _Yes_ , he wanted to be surrounded by something that wasn't his old jacket.

But, no, Lance wasn't his mother. And no, Keith was pretty sure the hug wouldn't be as comforting as he imagined it to be.

But he said none of this.

Lance seemed to take his silence as a negative, because his arms sagged slightly, "You uh..." His arms dropped. "You don't have to. It was stupid."

And then Keith took five steps foreword and wrapped his arms around Lance's middle, forehead pressed against his chest. Lance stumbled back a bit, even if the hug was light, and hardly a push.

A short, Galra was hugging him. No-

_Keith_ was hugging him.

A short Keith was hugging him.

Lance wrapped his arms around him, all the way around, hugging as much as he could, because when Lance heard quiet snuffles, he was reminded of home, and all of the times he used to give his young siblings hugs to stop their tears.

" _Thanks_." It was croaked, and it was quiet, but Lance still heard it, and he tightening his hold on Keith because of it.

Just one hug. That was all Keith thought he needed. But now, as he turns his head, eyes squeezed shut and cheek against Lances collarbone, his chin atop Keith's head, Keith realized that he may want a bit more than just one.

Maybe a few actually.


End file.
